Suspect in Coast Guard officer shooting in Anchorage

Posted: Tuesday, July 31, 2001

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- A man charged with murdering a Coast Guard officer on St. Paul Island was in custody in Anchorage.

Carl W. Merculief Jr., a former St. Paul resident who had been living in Anchorage, was being held at the Cook Inlet Pre-trial Facility, Alaska State Troopers said. He was brought to the detention center Monday night.

Merculief's first court date is set for Aug. 9.

Merculief, 25, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Harris.

Harris, 33, was found dead July 24 in front of the Coast Guard's Long Range Navigation Station. Troopers said he had been shot several times.

Harris was assigned to the St. Paul Island Coast Guard Station on July 3. He was from New Orleans and was to be the station's commanding officer. Charging documents say the suspect believed his wife was having an affair with the victim.